The Swordfish Knight
by Blue342
Summary: In his dying moments Inatika Akitani, the Master, decides he could help the Beast Knights more if he picked a successor with his contract wish. As it happens, he knows a perfectly fine man with the makings of a hero of justice who cold help the Beast Knights to fight against the insane Magician on a guest for Akasha. ONESHOT


Author's notes: Hello there! This is Blue342 speaking(writing). I know I should be writing the newest chapter for Grimoire Trouble now since my writing time is extremely limited nowadays, buuuut then I got this idea and decided get it off my mind so I could focus on Grimoire Trouble properly. I think I succeeded. No way am I gonna even think about writing more of this now before I have at least a dozen of reviews. Wouldn't probably be a bad idea to finish fate/stay night too before that. Well anyways this is just a oneshot, to see how I can do something like this. I'm not really satisfied with the result, but I have a history of crushing self criticism, so I'm gonna trust the reviewers more on that. Though if i decide to continue, i'll probably just write the whole thing again. Maybe have Akitani pay a visit to Shirou after Kiritsugu dies. We'll see. I think that's all I wanted to say for now. Oh, and I have almost no idea how nasuverse works, so expect me to get many things wrong in this little story. Thank you. Please review!

End notes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

_Thinking_

"Speaking"

**SPELLS**

**setting**

**ONESHOT**

**The Swordfish Knight**

The ground shook under powerful stomps of the massive creature, though it was more because of the weight of the living mass of clay than physical power. Its legs were short and stubby, causing it's movements to look stiff and slow. A long tail lashed at the air behind its menacing form. If not for the plump body, the clay doll would have resembled a great alligator that had decided to take a hike on the mountains. It's head, and at the same time half of its torso, was covered by a single plate of living clay, with rows of three eyes at either side of its head, giving it almost 360 degree vision. It was hard to say if it was the alligator-like appearance or the oversized head plate that gave the impression that anything that got within the reach of its jaws would be crushed like rat in a hydraulic press, but either way anyone who saw the thing would make quick decision to stay away from it. But that suited it just fine, since the jaws were not the main weapon of the golem known as Skirophorion.

Just like the 500-year old psychic Inatika Akitani, or as people tended to call him "Master", had found out when Skirophorion had opened its mouth and revealed not rows of jagged teeth, but what would be more accurately described as a cannon barrel, filled to the brim with blades of sharp, living clay. The projectiles had pierced his psychic barrier and him with it with enough force to protrude from his stomach even though he had been hit in the back. Such was the power of the sixth golem made by the Magician known as Animus.

But the man who called himself Inatika Akitani had known that. He had actually known that he would die fighting against Skirophorion and more for hundreds of years already. It was still a shock though. Knowing and experiencing were two different things after all. But it did not matter anymore. He was dying and there were not many healers who could heal wounds such as his on such a short notice. And he was ok with that. This was supposed to be his last lesson to his last disciples, a lesson about death.

"Then… What are you possibly teaching these children? Aren't you just showing off a corpse!"

Although it seems that the lesson wouldn't go as he had planned. But that was not the enemy's fault, rather it was the fault of Akitanis own partner since last month, the Swordfish Knight Zan Amaru.

"That will teach them death", the man known as Master answered his short time partner with all the conviction of his 500 years of living and teaching.

It was amazing how even after living 500 years, he still had something to learn from his fellow mortals be they human or, as in Amarus case, fish.

"Striving and living till the last moment is the essence of life! Without regret and laughing at death! That's what you're supposed to teach them!" the floating fish yelled at him, as if what he was saying should be obvious. And maybe, to some, it was.

"You can still stand! You… Should be able to stand!" Amaru shouted, voice full of not only conviction like Akitanis, but experience too. He was after all hundreds of years old, just like Akitani. But unlike Akitani, who had spent most of his life secluded as a hermit, taking a disciple every now and then, Amaru had spent his lives in a close partnership and camaraderie with dozens of other beast knights. It was easy to see, which one of them understood human nature better. Akitani could see it too, when he looked into his eyes.

And then, for a brief moment, he felt shame for what he had planned. He had thought that he had accepted his own death already, why wouldn't he? He had known about it for hundreds of years already. _When did my acceptance turn into seeking?_ Akitani thought as he closed his eyes, _So… Shameful. But there is still something I can do_. Akitani opened his eyes and looked at the golem that had killed him. His psychic abilities were far from what they used to be, just like his body, they had grown old and weakened until they barely existed. He had started to age 20-30 years ago. The reach of his precognitions had started to shrink 18 years ago. His mental discipline had started to deteriorate 15 years ago, thoug that might not have been a bad thing, since it allowed him to show his feeling more openly. The most prized ability of his youth, the telepathic link to Akashic records had gotten cut completely eight years ago. And finally, for the last few years his Ultimate Spear and Invincible Shield, even though still stronger than what a normal psychic or magus could throw, had started to show signs of weakening, culminating at how the golem his disciples were now fighting had pierced his shield with apparent ease. But just because he was weaker now, did not mean there would be nothing he could do. He had, after all, learned much from his divinations to the future and consulting with the swirl of the Root.

"My my… Dying easily is a sin, huh? Then watch, Zan-kun… I'll use up… The remaining scraps left of my soul…" Akitani declared to Beast Knight he was supposed to be partnered with for the rest of his life.

Then the air -no, light itself- bend around him, and the trench coat clad form of Inatika Akitani disappeared leaving behind only several rings of light.

"Teleportation? He can do such a thing?" Amaru gasped. Thus far, the only one who he knew was able to use that ability, was Animus, the Magician. Inatika Akitani had not exaggerated his psychic abilities.

Meanwhile, about a dozen meters away on a clearing, light bend itself into a few rings and Akitanis body dropped gently on top of the Skirophorions plated head, surprising the two 14-year old girls that had tried to maneuver themselves so that they could aim at the clay doll that had killed their Master.

"Master!" they shouted, eyes wide open, since they had thought that their beloved Master would have already retired to a safe spot to tend his wounds. Skirophorion aimed its emotionless eyes on the human that had suddenly appeared on top of it. It might have had some sort of ability to protect itself from a threat from that particular direction and range, but it had no time to use it, since Inatika Akitani was already kneeling literally in front of its face, preparing a psychic lance.

"BEHOLD! MY 500 YEARS! **HEAVENLY JEWELLED SPEAR!**" Akitani called his attacks name, and a lance of light materialized from the heavens, cracking down like thunder into the head plate of the golem, splitting it into several pieces and leaving a gaping hole where it stuck. As the recoil threw Akitanis body down from the golems head, it let out a scream of animalistic pain. Were it just about any other enemy, Akitani was sure that even most Dead Apostles wouldn't get up from a clear hit like that, it would have died. But Skirophorion was a golem, a living doll of clay that had no purpose but to obey its creator. It was animated by magic. It could not lose important organs. It would keep fighting as long as its body of living clay could hold on.

Akitani himself hit the ground painfully on his back, driving the clay projectiles even deeper into his dying body. In seconds, his last two disciples were by his side, tears in their eyes.

"Subaru, Yukimachi… Did you see that?" Akitani gave them a glance, accompanied by a small smile, "Now it's your turn. If the Ultimate Spear and the Invincible Shield are one together… They won't contradict. Take each other's hand and become the spear… and become the shield. You two… Can win."

Akitanis old heart swelled with pride as he watched his last disciples gather their wits and proceed to finish the wounded golem. The golem launched its mouth cannon again, but this time Akitanis disciples linked their small hands and created a shimmering shield of psychic energy that Akitani sensed would have rivaled the strength of his own shield back in his prime. The projectiles stood no chance against the new shield and ricocheted away from its surface, devastating the clearing around Skirophorion.

"Yuki! Let's hit it with this shield!" red haired Subaru yelled and as one, the duo threw their hands forward, blasting the Invincible Shield forward, turning it from an immovable object into an unstoppable force. Skirophorion couldn't even blink its six eyes before the Ultimate Spear crashed through it head, completely obliterating half of its body and destroying it for good.

But there was no triumph in the victory. As soon as it was clear that the clay doll would not rise again, the two 14-year olds run to their wounded teacher, begging him not to die, that they would get help for him. Akitani gently brushed off their offers, opting instead to part last of his wisdom for his disciples.

"Yukimachi…" he looked at the blond Mantis Knight who almost never opened her eyes, "You're a strong child. Protect Subaru, ok?"

"…Okay", Yukimachi whispered, tears glistening at the corners of her half-lidded eyes.

"Subaru…" Akitani then looked at the emotional redheaded Rooster Knight, "You're a perceptive child. Understand Yukimachi's weaknesses, got it?"

"Masterrr…" Subaru cried, her tears overflowing. Akitani then lifted his gaze to the skies.

"I've lived for 500 years… I knew everything and I was able to do anything I pleased. However… I felt happiness, strength and weaknesses. And that made me a normal human being…" Akitani reminisced his numerous disciples and the events that shaped their –and by extension, his- lives. He then let his gaze rest for a moment at the grieving forms of his last two disciples.

"The same goes for the two of you… Whether you have super powers or not, you're still but human. Tell this, to the Magician. He probably is the same as us", Akitanis gaze rose back to the sky, this time focusing on the colossal dark form of a hammer that floated in the sky, "We are human. Just mere human beings."

After a few seconds of pondering silence, Akitani let out a small laugh.

"Fufu… I'm tired of all this talking. Sorry for stopping you two, now run along. I…" Akitani hesitated a little, but then a thought entered his head. One simple thought that would help his last disciples tremendously. His precognition was long gone by now and he could not check this ides feasibility with the Akasha, but he felt it would work.

"I still have something to do. I have Zan-kun with me so no need to worry for me. Now, go. I don't have too much time", Akitani ordered his disciples for the last time. As their they hesitantly started to leave, the floating form of the Swordfish knight appeared, Akitanis precious hat perched at point of its sword like horn. He was about to say something, but Akitani interrupted him as he took his hat back.

"Zan-kun. Look. The children… Are moving ahead… Heading to the future beyond me. Running… How reliable."

"Please. Use your contract wish. Use it and you can still recover", Amaru plead his partner, referring to the contract wish of the Knights, who partnered with their corresponding Beast knight and accepted the burden of fighting against the Magician. Almost anything could be wished. Something like healing wounds would be a piece of cake, unlike the resurrection of the dead.

"Ah, but that is not my wish Zan-kun. You could say that my wish is already granted. There's nothing more than dying before my disciples do. But then again… I had a revelation thanks to you. You see… I have now taught my disciples about death, like you said I should. But even if they know about death, should they still see it…? They are mere children after all. As are some other Knights" Akitani then looked his partner in the eyes, "so… Maybe I should use my wish to make it so that they wouldn't see that much death after all. I know… just the guy to play the role of 'superhero' so that there would be the least amount of deaths. Come Zan-kun. Let's go see him." Once again, light bend itself into rings, and the bloody form of Inatika Akitani disappeared, along with the floating form of Zan Amaru.

**Fuyuki city, Emiya estate**

It had gone over well. Just as Akitani knew it would go. The young man who lived in the Emiya estate could not turn away anyone who asked for help. It didn't matter that he was covered in blood and smelled funny. It was just all the more reason for him to help. He was a man who would become a hero of justice after all. Akitani had told him the short version of everything, about the Magician who tried to reach Akasha by travelling through time to the beginning of everything and about his sister Anima that tried to stop him with the help of the Beast Knights. About how the Magicians True Magic needed a tremendous amount of power to work. About how that amount of power could be attained. That had been the easy part, considering that the youth had had experience with something similar in the past. Just that, instead of summoning Heroic Spirits, this Magician simply destroyed something powerful and directed the power released from the destruction to fuel his True Magic. That had been harder part to explain. It seemed that even after the youth had witnessed an anti-world noble phantasm before, it was still hard to accept that someone had the power to do so. Someone who wasn't a heroic spirit. Someone who was actually just a human. As much as a Magician could be a 'just' human.

"But why tell me all this? Surely the Mages Associaton or the Holy Church would stop this!" the young Emiya exclaimed.

"Yes they would. But it would take time for them to mobilize, and they wouldn't leave it at that… They would gather and dissect the Knights and the golems to understand them. They would learn much, but that might just create another… Animus... You know that just about every magus worth their salt would want to reach the Akasha… Animus has gotten close… so close that the only reason he hasn't reached it yet is that his sister fooled him into turning this into… a game… If any of the… association magus would learn their time travel spell, they would use it with impunity…. I contacted you, because I knew you don't care about the Akashic records... You just want to help people. Whole worlds have died because of this. In this time one human, soon two are already dead because of this… I want you to take my place as the Swordfish Knight. You'll make a good partner to Zan-kun here…" Akitani stopped to cough some blood onto his sleeve and then looked at the young man in front of him, "I don't have any longer… I've used up just about everything I have now… Tell me, Shirou Emiya, will you accept the burden of the Swordfish Knight in my stead?"

**Several weeks later**

If the sixth golem Skirophorion had resembled an alligator, the eight golem Metageitnion, with its fluffy tail and sleek form, resembled a horned dog the size of a bus. Of course, the fluffy look of its tail was actually caused countless spikes each the size of a grown man's arm. Once again the golem had particularly nasty looking jaws with sharp pointy teeth that were nothing but a distraction from its true weapon, the spiked tail. Just like the present Beast Knights had found out when Metageitnion had, in a fit of fury, utterly ripped apart the Cat Knight lesser golem Dienstag and a good part of the surrounding area, wounding almost every Beast Knight in the vicinity. Only the Mantis and Rooster Knights had been far enough to escape damage, as well as the Snake Knight, who had been looking after the Unicorn Knight who had been wounded earlier in the battle.

Metageitnion the turned its gaze to what it felt was currently its most dangerous enemy: the unwounded Mantis and Rooster Knights. It knew it wouldn't be able to take a clear hit from their Spear. Now that they had no-one to defend them, it could end them. With a ferocious roar it charged right at the duo, who decided to gamble and instead of a shield, prepared to blast their Spear through the charging golems head.

They missed, the energy blast merely glancing the side of the clay doll, leaving a trail of scorched clay in its wake, but dealing no true damage. The other Beast Knights were already sprinting to their aid, but they were too far away and none of them had a powerful enough ranged attack to stop Metageitnion.

Then.

Something flew over the duo of Knights.

It was too fast to be seen, but it left behind it a trail of spiraling air and it drilled itself right through the head of the clay doll, continuing its flight not slowing down the slightest until it came out just above the spiked tail, almost ripping it completely off in the process. The Beast Knight stared in shock how the clay around the newly formed hole started to twist along with the spirals and the mighty form of Metageitnion crumbled. The projectile continued its flight and disappeared into the forest, though it sounded like it had no intention to stop. As a matter of fact, they saw several trees start to waver and fall in that direction.

Then, they turned their gaze to the other direction, to identify their unknown helper. Stress on the unknown, since there wasn't supposed to be any more Knights left, since the Dog and Swordfish died. The Princess did not use projectile weapons, they had all witnessed that she preferred to get close.

Then who had sniped Metageitnion?

They could see a human form standing in the forest behind them, barely visible between the trees and bushes. They could not make out his face because of the distance, but they could identify the large black longbow in his hands. But that was not what got their attention. What got their attention was the silhouette of a swordfish that accompanied him, floating right there beside him.

**At the same time, in the sky**

The Magician known as Animus frowned as he observed this newcomer. He didn't look much, his only interesting feature at first glance was the red hair with several gray spot here and there. But there was something special in this man. He was a magus, that was for sure from the arrow. It obviously had had a ludicrous amount of **REINFORCEMENT **used on it, but he felt there was something more to it. Perhaps the arrow had been a mystic code of sorts? Or maybe it was the bow? Animus's eyes narrowed as he focused on the weapon.

It certainly was no normal bow, it was far too large to be meant for conventional use. It also looked a bit familiar to Animus's eyes, which boggled his mind. How could something this far back in the past be familiar to him? Only Anima and her animals could travel through time!

But then he got a thought. With a flick of his hand, he summoned something he had not used in centuries. It was book, a large brightly colored storybook full of stories and fairytales for children. He opened the book with practiced motions and started to leaf through the pages. He was looking for a certain story, or more like a certain picture.

_There_, he thought as he turned page and found himself looking at a large drawing of a tanned, white haired man, with the exact same bow in his hands. _Oh my, have I come this far already?_ Animus thought as he eyed the man in the picture, comparing him to the archer on the ground. _His hair is already starting to gray… And his skin is a bit toned… Well this is a first. To have real life hero stand against me… This is interesting!_ Animus thought with a glee as he slammed the book shut.


End file.
